Come the Dawn
by Guardian of Hope
Summary: Darkest Moments 4 Only the Megaforce Rangers remain to stand against the Witch, armed with new armor, old allies, and a surprise the Witch won't see coming, they are all that's left to stand for Earth.
1. Metallic Armor Activate

The Witch laughed victoriously as Shane's Key fell to the ground.

"There's nothing sadder than premature celebration," Troy announced as he dropped out of one of the trees.

"What?" The Witch shrieked.

"Hey lady, volume," Jake said as he came casually strolling around the tree to stand beside Troy.

"This is impossible!" The Witch said.

"We're Power Rangers," Noah said as he stepped up beside Jake. He pushed his glasses back into place, "Statistically speaking, this is what we do."

"But I captured all of them," the Witch said. She looked stunned, confused, and deeply troubled.

"Who? The Earthian Rangers?" Gia asked as she stepped up on Troy's other side.

"Funny thing," Emma said as she followed Gia, "we're not on the rolls yet, at least on Eltare."

"Shane and Carter formally acknowledged us about two weeks ago," Troy said, "we've been around for months though, just… busy."

"No matter," the Witch said and lifted her hand.

"Go, go Megaforce," the team shouted. "Metallic Armor activate."

The Metallic Armor developed by Zordon to counteract Master Vile was one of the more powerful enhancements used by the Rangers, and one of the most maligned. While powerful, the original design had made the Ranger uniforms appear as if they had been dusted with glitter. Justin, aided and abetted by some of the finest Ranger techs on Earth, had taken the principle enhancement and twisted it for the Megaforce Rangers. Where they had once worn white body suits with chest armor and helmets in their colors, they now had body suits in paler versions of their colors, the metallic designs on their armor were muted, and some of their helmets were changed. Emma's pink uniform had lightened several shades, and Jake's black now seemed to almost absorb light. Troy, Noah, and Gia all looked as if their chest pieces were more like liquid metal than the more cloth-like appearance that was normal.

The Witch flung a green orb at Troy, and the world seemed to explode instantly.

When the fire and smoke cleared, Troy stood unharmed and unchanged.

"That's _impossible,"_ the Witch insisted.

"You've spent nearly two weeks hunting Rangers, Witch," Troy said. "You've been flinging those orbs around like confetti at the Macy's parade. Did you honestly think it was going to be that easy? We've been ahead of you every step of the way."

"It doesn't matter," the Witch said. "I will have you all. Loogies!"

"How pedestrian," Emma said as they attacked the Warstar minions.

"Do you think someone should tell her we're not Pokémon?" Noah asked as he ducked a punch. "She doesn't actually have to catch us all."

Jake grabbed his friend's shoulder, "Who are you and what have you done with Noah?"

"I'm still me," Noah said, "I don't know where that came from."

"It's the Power," Troy said, "it's stronger. Remember what Mrs. Rowling said? We've enhanced our connection to the Power, so there might be bleed over from that."

"If you say so," Noah said.

Troy smiled as he flipped a pair of Loogies, "We'll ask later, okay?"

"Agreed," Noah and Jake said.

Troy pulled a Loogie away from Gia's back and gripped her shoulder, "You okay?"

"You know it," Gia said.

As Troy pulled his hand back, he realized that he could _feel_ how Gia was doing. As he grappled with another Loogie, his mind processed the feeling, which was _yellow-strong-determined_ , that was _Gia._ He knocked the Loogie down and turned for another one as he saw Emma use a leg sweep on another Loogie. _Pink-focused-worried_ rippled through his mind, that was _Emma._ He grunted as Jake bumped into him, _black/green-gleeful-strong_. Then Noah, _blue-focused-analytical,_ and that was his team. As Troy used a hip throw Justin had taught him to put down the last minion, he felt, for a brief moment _silver-hope-fear_ but it was gone before the Loogie hit the ground and Troy could look around.

"I'll be back Rangers," the Witch said. "I will not be stopped."

"Neither will we," Troy replied.

The Witch vanished in green light and Troy turned to look at his team. "That was interesting," Noah said, "should we demorph."

"Reporters," Gia said, pointing over Troy's shoulder.

"Do we stay or go?" Jake asked.

"The question," Troy said as he turned around, "are we ready?"

"Will we ever be?" Gia asked.

"Let's do it," Emma said.

Troy led the way over to where the reporters, mostly older men and women, were waiting. "Excuse me," one man said, "I'm Alec Chapman with Daily News. Can you explain what just happened here, Rangers?"

"We'll be happy to," Troy said. "But first, Power Down!" The reporter contingent looked stunned and none of them spoke. "My name is Troy Burrows, Megaforce Red Ranger. My team is Noah Carver in Blue, Emma Goodall in Pink, Gia Moran in Yellow, and Jake Holling in Black. As for what happened here today, it started nearly three weeks ago on Mirinoi, when the Witch, the purple alien, captured the Galaxy Rangers and Magna Defender. They sent someone to KO-35 to warn them, but Karone intercepted the pod when it ran out of power. Later that day, Ashley Hammond was captured by the witch on KO-35 along with Analyn of KO-35, the former Pink Kerova Ranger and stand in since the death of Cassie Chan.

"Karone summoned a number of Earthian Rangers, including ourselves, to a meeting on Javor to discuss the news, where plans were made. The Witch has captured the Rangers by transforming them into figurines, to what purpose I am not at liberty to say. But when the Witch crashed the meeting on Javor, she captured a number of Rangers, including the Red Zeo Ranger, TJ Johnson and Carlos Vargas, the Red Aura Ranger of Javor, the Blue Earthian Ranger, also known as the First Blue Ranger, and Karone, who you may know served for a period as the Pink Galaxy Rangers. Following the instructions and plans we'd made, my team evaded the Witch and returned to Earth with the Blue Zeo Ranger to prepare.

"Although we were unable to warn Jason Lee Scott, Doctor Trini Kwan-Scott, and CIA Agent Zack Taylor of the Witch's arrival and intentions, Earth's senior Rangers have staged a planet wide distraction for the Witch, allowing us to acquire numerous figurines, analyze the Witch's powers, and prepare a counter movement. What was witnessed today was the final part of stage one. With our enhanced armor, we Megaforce Rangers will not only defeat the Witch, but also drive off the Warstar Armada, whom we were originally called to fight. We have agreed among us that we cannot fall back on a habit of secret identities at this time. The Witch is a fast opponent, who favors striking without warning, and if we were forever having to hide away to morph, we would lose before we begin. Instead, we want the world to know who we are and what we're doing. All we ask is that we be allowed to deal with the threat to Earth unhindered."

Troy looked at Alec Chapman, "Did that answer your questions?"

"I believe it did, Mister, uh, Burrows," Alec Chapman said.

"Ranger," Troy corrected him, " _Ranger_ Burrows is considered the appropriate title. If there are no more questions, you'll have to excuse us. We need to return to our base and review the fight today and begin training for the next step."

Ignoring the tentative hands, Troy stepped back and tapped the communicator that Justin had made for him while they were repairing the teleportation network the Witch had disabled. Red light filled Troy's vision and he was whisked away, back to the facility outside Beacon Hills.

* * *

This is the opening of Come the Dawn, the follow on to Against the Dying of the Light. While I cannot post the image I did of the new "Metallic Armor", which isn't exactly metallic honestly, I do have a tumblr, my name there is guardian-of-hope and you can find it tagged as "Megaforce Metallic Armor"!


	2. Future Unseen

A/N: This chapter is purely a filler chapter. I've been suffering some... creative difficulties with my writing, so I decided to take the part I already had (the opening lines) and see what came of just running with it. If you want to know more about what the Pack's up to, I intend to pursue their adventures in 'On The Dangers Of A Big Red Button'. I wrote what I did about Danny as my way of handling his being put on a bus by Teen Wolf. To expand... Jackson, Troy, Danny, and Boyd are a year ahead of Erica, Stiles, Isaac, Lydia, and Scott. To explain why they all had chemistry together, I'm drawing from my high school experience. In Texas in the early 2000s while you had to have 3 science credits (1 biology, and the other two could be a combination of either Chemistry, Physics, or Integrated Chemistry and Physics) there wasn't a grade requirement. I took biology and chemistry my Freshman year and my Chem class was actually mostly seniors and juniors.

* * *

"You don't think they're going to become too arrogant do you?"

Justin glanced at his companion, then back to the TV where Troy was talking to a reporter about their last battle against the Warstar. Troy was grinning and joking with the reporter, looking like an All-American teenager while Jake and Noah flanked him. Jake looked like he was eating up the attention when the reporter threw him a question, and Noah managed to explain something about the alien without stuttering.

"See the way Troy rubs his wrist when he talks?" Justin said, "He does it to ground himself. There's a scar there from before he became a Ranger, it reminds him that he's not all powerful. Jake's always been a good actor, his dad is a controlling bastard who made him and his mom miserable before they separated. Thankfully, Lightspeed had excellent lawyers, they've got him tied up in court over the custody agreement. Noah hasn't managed to get through one of these interviews without tripping over his tongue before today. Gia and Emma don't go on the news, not after that asshole got up in arms over their relationship."

"Is there something wrong about it?"

"Earthian prejudices," Justin replied, "it's the hazard of being as isolated as we are. Don't worry about them getting arrogant. They know what's at stake better than most." He turned back to his computer as it began to beep. "Time to run another test."

/././.\\.\\.\

Troy groaned as they teleported back to the facility. "Do we have to do more interviews?" He asked as he wandered into Justin's lab.

"Just a little bit longer," Justin said as he typed. "The Witch has to respond if she wants to get paid. All of Earth's Rangers, remember? Your team is standing strong, the Warstar won't be able to hold out for much longer, there will have to be a response."

"I just have this feeling," Troy said, "I think they're waiting for something."

"They probably are," Justin said as he stopped typing and turned to Troy. "There's always a way for things to get worse, Troy. Until I can reverse this, we just have to be prepared to counter whatever the Witch thinks to do." He reached over and gripped Troy's wrist, pressing against the scar hidden by Troy's watch. "I'm going to reverse this, Troy. I just need time."

Troy covered Justin's hand with his own, meeting and holding Justin's gaze, "We'll give you that time, Justin. You do what you have to do, okay?"

Justin smiled, "Don't worry, we still have a few cards to play, remember? Between Angela and Hailey, you guys will be well equipped to handle whatever the Warstar throws at you."

"Yeah," Troy said, "they're pretty amazing."

Justin shrugged, "They're good at what they do, and they're pretty specialized as far as that goes. I like being a Jack of All Trades, gives me…"

He turned as one of the other computers began to beep. "What?" Troy asked.

"Could be good," Justin said, pushing his chair across the room. "Could be very good." He began typing on another keyboard. "Petra made cookies, by the way," he said over his shoulder, "she said something about ice cream sandwiches?"

Troy laughed, "I'll see you later, Justin."

Justin was already lost in whatever the screen was telling him.

Troy left the room and headed towards the other side of the compound that had once been an SPD scientific facility. The place was quiet, but Troy knew it wasn't deserted. The Pack had claimed the facility for their own use, with Justin pulling rank as the Blue Turbo Ranger to get control of the buildings. Between the medical facilities and the rumors of a time machine, Lightspeed hadn't been happy about letting the facility go, but the Witch's arrival had made things like controlling an advanced science facility seem trivial. Troy suspected that by the time they'd dealt with the Witch, the facility would be Justin's from top to bottom.

"Hey Troy!"

Troy turned and smiled as Danny jogged towards him, "Hey Danny. How's life?"

"Pretty good," Danny said, "just finished finalizing everything with the school. Will you come to the ceremony?"

"You know it," Troy said. "I'll probably have to sneak in or something, keep the press from coming around, but I'll be there. I can't believe you're graduating a semester early!"

"I know right," Danny said with a laugh, "Justin's already stamped 'property of Blue Mountain' on my ass. I'll be heading to CalTech in January."

"Not MIT?" Troy said.

"Ethan doesn't like flying," Danny said, "and I liked the scholarships CalTech offered. How about you? How's school working out for you?"

Troy sighed, "Well, since we decided to go public, Justin's got us set up in a homeschool program. As long as I keep with the program, I should manage to make up what I missed and still graduate at the end of the year."

"Hey that's great," Danny said, "I'm glad you could work something out."

"Is Jackson going to be at the ceremony?"

"Yup," Danny said, "he's still complaining that his parents want him to stay in England for at least another year. Upside? They'll pay for him to transfer anywhere in the US if he does his freshman year in England. I told him he'd be twice an idiot to give that up."

"Would the first time be because he gave up Lydia?" Troy asked.

"You know it," Danny said.

They entered the residence building that had once held Erica, Jake, and Allison prisoner and headed up to the common room on the second floor.

"So, what are you guys doing exactly," Danny said, "I mean, I know there's a plan, but just what is it?"

Troy shrugged, "Justin's trying to reverse the spell the Witch cast on the Rangers, so we're mostly buying time. It's looking more and more likely that we're going to have to try something more dangerous. The Witch is biding her time, we _think_ she's helping the Warstar, because of the monsters we've been facing lately, but for all we know, they could have just gotten a new monster maker. If we go with Plan B, we really need the Witch to make a personal appearance, which Justin and I agree is very likely to happen soon."

"What _is_ Plan B then?" Danny asked as they sat on one of the couches.

"Um, fight the Witch directly and figure out how her magic works?" Troy said, "It's more a… concept than a plan." He grinned at his friend, "What about you? What are you up to now?"

"Well," Danny said, "you know that time machine Justin found?"

"Rumors," Troy said, "tell me more?"

"Lydia and I are tracing the logs that were left to see how many different changes were actually made, and how much was simple observation," Danny said, "like me getting caught. Apparently I _was_ right that they couldn't have traced me. The Feds were tipped off. Makes me wonder what kind of things I could do if I hadn't of scaled back."

"The same things you'll be able to do with Justin and Alec teaching you," Troy said, "you're as good with a computer as _I_ am on a battlefield and you know it. All we can do is keep learning and improving."

"Damn straight," Danny said. "Besides that, Ethan and I are still together."

Troy suppressed a shudder, "Yeah, I figured as much." He glanced around the empty room for a moment, "I thought I might, but…"

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Back when we became Rangers, there was this guy," Troy smiled a little, "he told people he was the Red Ranger, made a big show of it. We showed him the error of his ways, but I made friends with him. His name's Jordan. I thought, well, I thought he liked me. After we revealed our identities, Jordan and I had a fight about it, he said I should have told him the truth."

"He was probably hurt," Danny said, "I know when I found out about the werewolves, I was upset."

"Jackson and I told you as soon as we could," Troy pointed out. "I didn't want to say anything after you were attacked because it was _Jackson._ "

"I know," Danny said, "don't give up on Jordan, if he's your friend, he'll come around."

"I'm going to apologize to him," Troy said, "I'm going by Harwood County with Gia tomorrow and I'll see if I can run into him or something."

"See," Danny said, "I'm sure he'll come around, Troy. Just give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Danny! Troy!"

Troy turned to find Erica and Boyd coming into the common room. "Hey you two," Danny said, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Erica said, "Just escaping the madhouse. Mom and Dad are so proud that I'm cured that they're hosting the family Christmas party this year. I helped clean the guest room and all the bathrooms before Mom gave me the afternoon off. I am _not_ looking forward to Christmas."

"I'm just enjoying time off," Boyd said.

"You still working at the rink?" Troy asked.

"Nope," Boyd said, "Doc Hale hired me as his receptionist. He said it was good training for an envoy, but I think he just wanted someone to make coffee."

"I'm going to start working for Wren next year," Erica said, "Receptionist position, but Wren promised she'd teach me some of her forensic accounting tricks as a bonus."

"Sounds like you're both set," Troy said, "I have no _clue_ what I'm going to be doing. Lightspeed offered me a job, but I have to finish high school first. The Silver Guardians offered me a job, after high school. Mister Hartford and Mister Mercer mentioned internships too."

"What do you want to do?" Danny asked.

"Good question," Troy said dryly. "I didn't know before I became a Ranger, and now? Everyone _knows_ I'm a Ranger, I'll either _be_ hired _because_ I'm a Ranger, or _not_ hired _because_ I'm a Ranger. Justin said I could look off planet for something, but I'm not."

"Do you still want the bite?" Erica asked.

"Sometimes I do," Troy said, "but I don't know if Scott would go for it. I mean, my deal was with _Derek_ and he's not an Alpha anymore. Justin said that being a Ranger and a werewolf was both harder and easier than just being one or the other."

"Either way, you're Pack," Boyd said.

"Damn straight," Erica said.

Troy smiled, "Thanks guys." He settled into the couch more, basking in the feeling of warm content that filed him and radiated from the other three. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough, just like training with the team or playing lacrosse with the others could be enough. He closed his eyes, embracing the moment of peace as a bulwark against the war that raged outside their door.


	3. Super Mega-Mode

"So, then the judge said that he didn't have legal authority to go against the treaty and if the Burrows kept trying, it was likely they'd be called up for war crimes." Porter Clark said.

"War crimes?" Troy asked. He wanted free from his parents, he didn't want them in jail.

"You're a Ranger actively engaged in war," Porter said as he shuffled a small stack of papers, "Furthermore, you're the Red, and team leader. If your parents kept up with trying to interfere with you, they could distract you enough to affect the war. It's a war crime. They backed off when it was explained to them, and Mrs. Burrows stopped me afterwards to assure me that they wouldn't try to see you."

"She did?" Troy said, frowning.

"I got the impression that Mr. Burrows was in this for the fame of being the parents of a Ranger, but Mrs. Burrows seemed to care for you a lot." Porter said, "I wouldn't be surprised if she did try to contact you after this is all over, because she cares."

"Well, I knew that," Troy said, "she chose to have me and all that. Dad- Mr. Burrows- we weren't close even before he found out I wasn't his son. I always wondered why they'd ever gotten together in the first place."

"In other news," Porter said, looking uncomfortable as he straightened his papers, "the judge signed the emancipation papers with a minimum of fuss, so congratulations Troy, you are legally an adult."

Troy opened his mouth to comment and his morpher chimed loudly. He sighed and pulled it out, "Go for Troy."

"Sorry to interrupt," Hailey said, sounding tense, "but we've got the Witch and a monster in Angel Grove."

"Tell me about it," Troy said, standing up and nodding to Porter before heading out the door, nearly running on his way to the newly installed teleportation pad on the Lightspeed Aquabase.

"It looks like the Witch tried her hand at monster making," Hailey said. "Scans indicate that this is 'Imtato', a demon potato with the ability to capture and control…"

"Did you just say a _demon potato_ ," Troy demanded.

"Yes," Hailey said, "I was also saying that it has the ability to capture and control people. It has a dozen eyes."

"Does it look like Mister Potato Head?" Troy asked

"Troy, focus," Hailey said.

"Sorry, I'm just… we're going to fight a demonic Mister Potato Head that controls minds." Troy said, "I can't quite believe it."

"You'd better start soon. Imtato already has hostages and thralls. He showed up in the middle of an outdoor concert and started working." Hailey replied. "We've got the teleporter up and working, and Gia and Jake are already there and working on evacuating the civilians. Angela just sent Emma and Noah."

"I am so ready," Troy said. He held up his morpher, "It's morphing time! Go, go Megaforce! Metallic Armor Activate."

Red light of morphing faded into the red static of teleportation faded into a depressingly familiar park. There were half a dozen civilians standing around unmoving and unaware as Emma and Noah worked to herd Loogies away from them. It took him a moment before he saw Gia and Jake, both unmorphed, finishing off a Loogie while a woman carrying a child raced away.

"Ah, Red Ranger!"

Troy turned around, mentally preparing himself to face the demonic Mister Potato Head. Imtato wasn't as comedic as a Mister Potato Head toy, but he did have the combined torso and head of the toy, his arms and legs looked like someone had grown potatoes the size of pumpkins then connected them with potato eyes as joints and as hands.

"Ah, Mister Potato Head," Troy jeered, mimicking the monster's cruelly joyful tone. "I really hated you when I was a kid."

"I am Imtato."

"I really don't care," Troy said as he felt/heard his team approach. "You're going down."

"I always wanted a Mister Potato Head," Jake commented as he came up even with Troy.

"I doubt you want this one," Troy replied. "Better morpher."

"Right," Jake said, Gia a beat behind.

"It's morphing time! Go, go Megaforce! Metallic Armor Activate."

Troy took his stance, "Fury of the Dragon! Red Megaforce Ranger!"

"Flames of the Phoenix! Pink Megaforce Ranger!"

"Venom of the Snake! Black Megaforce Ranger!"

"Claw of the Tiger! Yellow Megaforce Ranger!"

"Bite of the Shark! Blue Megaforce Ranger!"

"Earth defenders! Never surrender! Go, go Megaforce!"

The power summoned by Jake and Gia's morph spread out to all of them with the roll call and Troy stepped forward, "Are you read, Potato Head?"

"Imtato!" The monster howled before unleashing a torrent of laser bolts at them.

Troy dove out of the way, summoning the Dragon Sword as he came out of the roll. He took a few running steps and then leaped in the air, bringing the sword down on the monster amidst the sparks and explosions of a Powered strike. He moved out of the way in time for Gia and Jake's earth shaking attack to send the monster staggering into position for the crossfire from Emma and Noah.

Troy watched, trying to see the monster through the smoke of the attack, but he heard it first.

Imtato was laughing.

Troy kept his spine straight, dismissed the unease in favor of determination as he felt his team's concentration falter. They took their confidence from him, and Troy had learned from the best how to keep faith that even a tough beginning could have the best ending.

The smoke cleared to show Imtato, still laughing, with only a few scorch marks. "You fools!" Imtato howled and attacked.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. It was very painful. And it ended with Troy on the ground with his team, barely holding his morph, with Imtato barely more damaged than he'd been the first time.

"It's amazing what a little magic can do."

Troy glared at the Witch as she stepped around her monster. He pushed himself to his feet, pressing a hand against his rib cage as he did. After a moment, he had Gia and Jake at his side, and he knew that Noah and Emma were beyond them.

"You can fight Imtato all you want," the Witch said, "but you'll lose. What was it you said? Ah yes, you said I threw my spell around like confetti. Well, so do you."

Troy bared his teeth in a snarl.

"So, the… witch learned a few new tricks," Gia mused, the pause making it clear that she had intended a somewhat different word.

"She learned them from us," Jake grunted, "that's just pathetic."

Troy gripped his morpher, but he knew there wasn't quite enough power there. Instead, he used the connection it granted him to reach out mentally. It wasn't easy, and he wasn't good at it, but it was enough. He looked at his team, they were battered and bruised, but unbroken.

"We didn't teach her all our tricks," Troy said, "I think it's time for a new one."

A stream of silver static came out of the sky, clearing to reveal a Silver Ranger.

"What?" The witch shrieked.

Troy winced, and he heard Jake mutter, "Ow."

Then the Silver turned to them and threw his hands up, flinging five devices into the air and Troy forced himself to move. He snatched the red device out of the air and landed in a painful crouch beside the Silver. "Glad you could make it," He said as he stood.

"Glad to be here," Silver said with a salute.

"Ready everyone," Troy asked, looking for the rest of his team. They all held up the devices Silver had thrown. Troy turned to the Witch, "You still don't know everything about us. Let's Power up! Super Mega-mode, Power UP!"

"Super Megaforce READY!" The six of them cried in unison.

Power surged around them and Troy was awash in red.

" _So you're Orion's Red."_

 _Troy stared at the woman who faded into the view. She didn't seem much older than him, but there was something ageless about her too. He thought it had to do with her eyes._

" _You're Shashanna, aren't you?" Troy asked, thinking of his new teammate's halting story about this team. "You are Denias's Red?"_

" _I am," Shashanna said with a smile. "Do you know how worried we all were about them?"_

" _What do you mean?" Troy asked, confused._

" _The Benai form psychic bonds deliberately and spontaneously. Tradition for our Rangers is that we're bonded. When Denias and Orion bonded, we didn't know what to do with a second Silver. I know they both had Dreams of Orion wearing Denias's uniform." Shashanna trailed off, then shook her head as if chasing off her thoughts, "Never mind that, you'll understand in time."_

" _Will I always see you when I morph?" Troy asked._

" _Not exactly," Shashanna said with a smirk. "I'll be here, and I'll know when you morph as me, but I we won't speak again until you come to the Grid, or I leave. I'll be that little voice in the back of your head that helps you use your weapons."_

" _That'll be interesting," Troy said._

" _Now, you have a monster to slay," Shashanna said, "but I'll be here."_

The Red receded, but the Power remained and with it came knowledge. His team was there in the back of his mind, including Silver in all its incandescent glory and Green swirled with Black that was Jake. He felt them even stronger than before, and part of him knew it was a gift of the so-called 'Super Mega-mode.'

Troy leveled his gun at Imtato, noting that the Witch was still shrieking in shock beside the monster. "Let's try this again," he declared and pulled the trigger, "Earth's Defenders, Never Surrender!"

Victory was almost too easy.

* * *

*clears throat* It's been a while, hasn't it? I never intended to abandon this, and I hope this chapter makes up a bit for the wait. I'll explore the actual source of the "super mega-mode" and Orion in future chapters. (Not the next, but starting after that.)

(Also, I blame the Super Carlin Bros. ep about the REAL villain of Toy Story for this. If you haven't ever seen their YouTube channel and you love Disney/Pixar and theories, then I totally recommend you watch.)


	4. Guardian

The entrance to Gosei's chamber was exactly where Noah had said it was. Justin ran his hand over the not-stone that hid the passage way from casual observation and felt a stirring of power. He shifted his wrist so that his morpher was closer to the wall, and the power washed over his morpher and then pulled back. Moments later, the passage was clear. Justin walked forward, wondering why the not-stone cavern theme continued inside. Only a morpher could grant access to Gosei's chamber, he could tell, could feel the difference in the masks around Gosei versus the shields that had protected the Power Chamber.

"Intruder alert!" A high pitched robotic voice wailed suddenly. Justin blinked and rounded a corner of the passageway. The room beyond was more a cave than anything, it was a mix of oval and rectangular, mixing the not-stone with actual technology in a way that left him even more confused.

"Calm down, Tensou," a deep voice commanded. Justin recognized Gosei from a few conversations he'd heard between Troy and the Guardian. "Only someone with a morpher can enter here."

"True enough," Justin said, "but that's not fool proof, you know."

"You know that better than anyone," Gosei replied.

Justin touched the column glowing with blue energy and watched as a series of scenes from his history appeared. "You're a Guardian, aren't you?"

"I am," Gosei said.

"Zordon never intended you to be the sole caretaker of these powers did he?" Justin said, looking at the row of figurines, so like the keys he protected now. "That wasn't your job."

Gosei was silent for a long moment. "No more than you were meant to be _just_ a Ranger."

A frequently ignored memory- golden light infusing him with strength and power, and a suggested purpose.

"It was a suggestion," Justin said, shoving the memory away yet again. "I haven't exactly seen much need for it."

"Not until now," Gosei said. The red column lit up with an image of Troy.

"Maybe," Justin allowed, forcing his eyes away from the picture.

"You know Zordon did not work alone," Gosei said. "He had others who helped him."

"He also had access to blank foci," Justin said, "a resource we've been lacking for some time."

"Zordon's allies will help you," Gosei said, "you are."

"A Blue Ranger, and barely that anymore," Justin snapped. "Not what you're saying." _Never that,_ he thought savagely.

"Gosei? Justin?"

Justin closed his eyes and made himself relax. They didn't need him losing his temper now, not with Noah entering the chamber. "Noah," Gosei said, "are you well?"

"I just- I got this feeling that I really needed to come here," Noah said, sounding worried.

"Sorry," Justin said realizing what must have happened, "that was me. I didn't mean to."

"What's going on?" Noah asked.

"I wanted to meet Gosei," Justin said, hoping the Guardian wouldn't comment. "I didn't think, I touched the blue column." He could feel the weight of Gosei's regard as he tried to smile. "Since your morpher is tied to the column, you felt it. It doesn't really mean anything, just one of the quirks of the power."

"Oh," Noah said, he hesitated, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but sound carries fairly well in the passageway. I don't exactly understand what I heard though."

Justin muttered an Eltarean curse, and decided to shade the truth. It would keep more people from asking questions if he dealt with it now. "It's like this, Zordon was a very powerful, very ancient being with a reputation for helping people who proved worthy. It was really more like he helped people who asked, but Earth isn't exactly the center of intergalactic travel any more than it ever was. He's done a lot to define the role of advisor, or mentor, for Rangers. I'm the last of the Rangers Zordon chose personally, the ones he gave a morpher to deliberately. Some people believe that means I'm his heir, that he gave me special powers when he died to help me succeed him. Now, I won't deny that I've helped build Ranger tech, hell, I incorporate a lot of the same principles in my security tech, but special power? I'm a Ranger and a Werewolf, and that's all the 'power' I've got."

"Okay," Noah said, "okay. Are you like Gosei?"

"No," Justin said. "Gosei isn't an actual advisor. He's a Guardian. Guardians are planet based beings who look over the planet and reserve power structures. Gosei is a sentient spirit who can communicate through the… tiki, but Guardians come in many different forms. They can't build Ranger power structures, the suits, weapons, and Zords, but they do protect reserve structures, like the Megaforce Powers. Zordon created them as a back-up. If an enemy attacked and no other team was available, Gosei had the authority to bring in the best selection of Rangers in his radius. A Guardian can serve in an advisory position, and their teams can even win. I can name you a dozen beings who were Guardians and advised a Ranger team to victory, some of them here on Earth. You've actually met Andrew Hartford already."

"Okay," Noah said, and Justin could tell he was trying to grasp all the concepts.

"It's like Orion," Justin said. "Gosei couldn't bring Orion into the Megaforce structure, he doesn't have the access, but between us, Andrew, Angela, Hailey, and I had the know-how to do it right. We've had experience after all, and the notes of some others who have done it already."

"So Gosei was asking if you'd be an advisor or something?" Noah asked.

Justin glanced at the tiki.

"As Justin has already acted in the manner of an advisor for Megaforce, I thought to ask if he'd make it official," Gosei said finally. "What we face now is beyond what I was prepared for, you need more than I can offer. I am not abandoning you, I am simply acknowledging that Justin and his team are better prepared for this."

Noah looked between the two of them and Justin held up his hands. "It's not going to happen. I'll continue on as I have been, but I'm not looking for official acknowledgement. As soon as my name becomes attached as more than a Ranger ally, all those damned rumors are going to start up again and I don't want that. I have my own responsibilities, my own life. I'm not abandoning my Pack."

"And we won't ask you to."

Justin looked up as Troy came into the room, the rest of the team, Orion included, following. "As grateful as we are for what you've done, Justin, you're the McHale Warden first, CEO second, and whatever Ranger related is a distant third."

"More like twelfth, and I'm a father first," Justin said. "I'm going to guess that Noah took off and you chose to follow?"

"Of course," Jake said. "We've all heard stories."

"I was _twelve,"_ Justin muttered before focusing on the Silver Ranger, "You doing all right there Orion? Any problems?"

"Nothing unanticipated," Orion replied. "I find your… media… to be rather more intrusive than I expected."

"Not in Beacon Hills," Justin said sharply.

"We went to Briarwood," Gia said, "the mall has a better variety of clothes. But without Vida to handle the worst of the lot, they're getting a bit bold."

"Good," Justin said with a brief smile. He'd already had some words with the local newspaper and radio stations on the matter of the Rangers. He was not afraid to take even more steps to ensure that, supernatural shenanigans aside, Beacon Hills remained a sanctuary for the Rangers. Especially since the President had formally granted Lightspeed the authority to invoke the Eltare Treaty's protocols in light of the Witch's actions.

The calendar alert on Justin's phone went off and he pulled his phone out with a muttered curse. "I need to get back; the lacrosse game starts in less than an hour. I'll see you all later."

* * *

This was SUPPOSED to be "I dislike Gosei and want him to go away" and it became Justin's Secret Destiny? Yeah, I don't know. I got nothing. How much or how often this plays into future events, well, we'll see. It's a new perspective or something.


End file.
